Fibonacci numbers

Sophia Darwin (email) and Rebecca Ward (email)

Description

Each number in the Fibonacci sequence is the sum of its two predecessors, starting from 0 and 1.

This simple description hides a wealth of ideas and applications, from the orderly arrangement of leaves on a plant to the chaos of Hamiltonian maps on a torus -- and with Penrose tilings somewhere between. There are links to musical and visual aesthetics, and even a stock-market application (allegedly).

First you should survey the subject and explore the properties of Fibonacci numbers. After that you will be able to make a detailed study of one or more particular developments.

This topic is suitable for several students.

Prerequisites

This is a topic which can be taken in many different directions. For many of these, you can start from 1H level maths.

Resources

  • Ron Knott's Fibonacci site is useful.
  • This Encyclopedia article contains facts, references and lots of links.
  • Ditto the Mathworld article.
  • Wikipedia may provide some ideas.
  • Here and here are sites devoted to the man himself. You could also look at his original book.
  • Some books in the University Library.
  • Here is a popular article about artistic connections. (In general with popular articles you should beware of rubbish, for example many of the sites here.)

back